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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24852457">Too Busy To Be Baby</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexca/pseuds/bexca'>bexca</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Seventeen Agere Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Play Caregiver Yoon Jeonghan, Age Play Little Lee Seokmin | DK, Age Regression/De-Aging, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Headspace Repression, Light Angst, Little Space, Little!DK, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, OT13 - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, dont sexualise this fic, littlespace, reminder: this is non sexual</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:20:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24852457</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexca/pseuds/bexca</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>DK nearly slips in the morning and spends the rest of the day trying to fight his headspace cos they have schedules and he doesn't want to burden the other members.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Boo Seungkwan/Lee Seokmin | DK, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Lee Seokmin | DK, Kim Mingyu/Lee Seokmin | DK, Lee Seokmin | DK/Everyone, Lee Seokmin | DK/Yoon Jeonghan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Seventeen Agere Fics [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815904</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>193</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi! this is just a short lil regression fic! i love regression fics so i decided to write one myself, and im actually suprisingly pleased with how it turned out?! </p><p>ive written half of the second chapter, but i couldn't finish it today because of schoolwork, so i just decided to split it into two parts! the second half should be out by thursday latest (if im not set loads more work by my teachers)</p><p>hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They had just left the dorms when DK felt it first. The more he thought about it, the more he realised it had probably started earlier on in the morning, perhaps even when he had woken up. Or maybe it had started when Hoshi had played with his hair during breakfast? Or possibly when Mingyu had helped him put his coat on? Either way, the familiar haziness was starting to tiptoe up in the back of his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been the fixation on his ring that had made him aware of it, aware that he was always more curious about things when he was in little space. But the way the light had glinted off it, and reflected onto the walls was just so </span>
  <em>
    <span>pretty</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It made rainbows for goodness sake! </span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> he was able to move the light to wherever he pointed which was super cool! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nope. Nope nope nope. He would not go there. They had a full schedule today, not coming back to the dorms ‘til 7 pm earliest, and if he was being honest, it would probably be more like 8 or something, with how much their choreographers were pushing them recently. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> have a comeback in a week, so it was fair, but that didn’t make it any less draining.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thinking ahead in the day, he had an hour-long break between his one-on-one vocal session and the group dance practice. Maybe he could take a nap then and clear his head? He usually had control of when he slipped, so this was most likely only happening because he was tired. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The break was at 3 though. It had only just gone 11.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was pulled out of his thoughts by Jeonghan’s hand on his thigh. “You okay?” he asked, having noticed the younger had dazed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not wanting to inconvenience the older, especially over something that would (hopefully) be gone in a few hours, Seokmin replied, “Yeh I’m fine hyung, just tired.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Accepting his answer easily, Jeonghan hummed. They were all tired, but there was nothing that could be done about it at this stage. They’d get a bit of a break after promotions were done. Trying to convey his sympathy without words, he rubbed the younger’s thigh in a way that was meant to be comforting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And in fact, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> comforting, but that was the issue. DK could feel his headspace starting to creep up on him again as he zeroed in on the soft touch. Without particularly meaning to, he pulled his leg away, Jeonghan’s hand falling off it. Mumbling a small apology, he went to get his headphones out his bag, missing the confused look the older was sending him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t that the members didn’t approve of age regression - far from it. In fact, they had multiple regressors and dreamers in the group, and those that didn’t regress were quite happy to play and look after the little ones. He just didn’t want to disturb them. DK knew that as soon as he mentioned feeling at all small, they would all start to keep an eye on him, and that would just make him feel smaller! And if he was even smaller, then there was no way he’d be able to go to practice, and there was no way he (plus other members, cos they’d have to take care of him) could miss practice only a week before the comeback! It wasn't even an option.<br/>
</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So he couldn't let any of them know. He could press it back until his break, where he could nap, which would help him (in theory) keep his headspace at bay until the evening. He wasn't worried about when they got back to the dorms - over half of them were caregivers or switches so if some members were too tired, others were there to step in and look after him.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>As it turned out, it was not as easy as DK had originally thought to repress the oncoming wave of haziness. He had made it through about half of his one-on-one vocal practice without too much push back from his headspace, but as soon as he was given a 5-minute break, it came on full force. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was no distraction now, the vocal coach having left the room to grab a coffee. It was just him, his phone (with cut the rope, subway surfers, and other games on it), and his water bottle. Deciding not to even risk the phone for fear of the games making him slip, he unscrewed the bottle, lifting it to his lips to take a sip and-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh. That wasn’t meant to happen. It was meant to land in his mouth, not on his t-shirt. The lukewarm water soaked through the material, making it stick unpleasantly to his body. Ew ew ew. Not nice. Feels gross. He pulled the fabric away from his tummy, eyebrows scrunching up in frustration. He’d just wanted to have some water n now he was all wet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew Hannie hyung was still in the building, having also had a solo vocal session. Maybe he had a spare top? N even if he didn’t, Hannie hyung always knew what to do. He was smart like that. It was worth a try…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before he could process what he was doing, DK reached for his phone, unlocking it and going to open his private message with Jeonghan. Just before he could send his message to the older, the vocal coach came back into the room, startling DK out of the semi-headspace he was in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Trying not to cry from the unpleasant jolt to reality, DK put his phone away, getting ready to start practicing again. That had been too close. If he’d texted Jeonghan, there was no way his hyung wouldn’t have found out. Dokyeom had always been a terrible speller when he was small, so tragic that even autocorrect couldn’t save him. There would’ve been no way to hide.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shaking his head clear (or at least trying to), he got up again, ready to focus on the task at hand. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>One thing at a time.’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>he reminded himself, going to stand by the keyboard to carry on.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>It was finally 3. After his vocal session was finally over, Seokmin had been let out to get some sort of lunch. By now, his stomach was begging for attention, having not eaten since breakfast (far <em>far </em>earlier in the day).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deciding he couldn’t be bothered going out to the nearby stores, he instead made his way towards the company kitchen. There was bound to be some ramen in there somewhere, right?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At arriving in the kitchen, he rummaged through the cupboards, pleased to find a stash of instant noodles in the back corner of one of them. He set about making one, wanting to eat as fast as possible so he could rest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cooked and in his belly within 10 minutes, DK made his way to the lounge area in the company building. There was usually one or two others there, waiting for their next schedule (like him), but today (thankfully) he was the only one. He didn’t currently have the energy to make conversation with anyone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On his way to the sleeping destination of choice (a plush couch), he grabbed a blanket, snuggling down. He wasn’t particularly worried about trainees or members from other groups seeing him - they were all in the same industry and had seen people unconscious in all sorts of places. A break room was certainly not the oddest place one would find someone napping in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After setting his alarm on his phone for 3:55 (giving himself 5 minutes to get to the practice room on time), he laid his head down to rest, and his eyes slipped shut.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>DK goes to practice, still fighting his headspace</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay so i ended up splitting this chapter in half and making it a three chapter fic instead of two cos<br/>a) i didn't like how the second half had turned out and wanted to edit it but i'd said i'd have the 2nd chapter out by thursday and i probs wouldn't have it edited by then<br/>and b) it was already about double the length of chapter 1 so it made sense to split it into 2 as it was</p><p>sorry to those of you who were looking forward to an ending/some little DK! i promise it'll be in the next chapter (hopefully, if i can end it properly cos i suck at endings)! there is a tiny paragraph a bit like what it'll be like but he ends up snapping out of it :(</p><p>enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Waking up from a nap was never nice. Waking up from a nap and being in between headspaces was even worse. Seokmin reached over at stopped his alarm, unable to stop a whine from tumbling out his mouth. It wasn’t fair! He was still so so </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>tired, and now he had to practice?! Playing with his toys at home sounded wayyyyyyy more fun. Even just sitting in the car and doing his phone games sounded better than practicing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But no. He couldn’t. They had a comeback soon and they needed him to be there so they could make sure the formations were right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> The big part of his brain took over, putting him on autopilot as he wound his way through the halls until he reached the practice rooms. He kept his head down, trying to avoid any conversations, not sure whether he’d be able to form full, grammatically correct sentences.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he arrived, nearly all the other members were there too. No one noticed him slip in quietly and sink down with his back against the wall. He plugged his phone in to charge and pretended to scroll through it, trying to blend into the background (they didn’t need to know he was just swiping at a black screen).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later, the final members had appeared, and the dance instructors called them over. They briefed them on the goal of the day’s practice - revision, revision, revision. DK breathed a soft sigh of relief. That was good. They wouldn’t be learning anything new. That meant he could just (hopefully) rely on his muscle memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At hearing the small exhale, Joshua looked over to the 97-liner, noticing the way he slouched, and his slightly dazed look. Worried, he tried to catch Dokyeom’s eyes but they stayed firmly fixed on his fidgety fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Joshua could shuffle over to the younger to ask him what was wrong, the dance instructors sent them off to get into place to warm up. Everyone split up from the huddle, and Joshua watched as DK startled, snapped out of his reverie by the movement. He decided to drop it for now but resolved to keep an eye on the boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Completely oblivious to his hyung watching him, DK got into position and copied Hoshi up at the front, going through some simple stretches. Already used to this, his mind wandered, going straight to the future evening. Maybe later he’d be able to do some colouring. He’d recently bought a new colouring book, and crayons to go with it, with loads of extra colours that the pack he had to share with the other littles didn’t have. He didn’t usually mind sharing, but these ones were special so he had to make sure that if anyone else slipped, he kept them to himself. He couldn’t have them being ruined by a two-year-old Coups or Gyu.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the mirror, he saw Hoshi get on the floor, stretching his legs into a straddle. Oooo! This was his favourite one! When he played with his stuffies, they could all fit in between his legs like this! It meant no one was left out!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But none of his stuffies were here now, he remembered, pouting. They were all back at home, sitting on his bed. They were probably all lonely without him. Actually, wait, they all had each other. He was the one that was lonely! The thought passed through his head and he had to bite his lip to stop a small whimper escaping him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hoshi got back up, drawing his attention back to the present. Oh yeah. He was still in practice. They still had over 3 hours left. Physically shaking his head, he tried to coordinate his limbs to do the last few stretches Hoshi was doing in front of them, somewhat managing (albeit a little clumsily).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the instructors deemed them warmed up enough, they put on ‘clap’, the members immediately falling into formation. They usually did this, going over a 2 or 3 older choreos as a way of easing into the newer ones. DK should know his position in this. They had gone over it briefly a week ago or something. It had been fine then. So why could he not remember his starting position </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few seconds of staring blankly at all the other members dancing in front of him, they stopped, staring back questioningly. “What’s up hyung?” Dino asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hyung</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That was right. He needed to be big. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Now</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Plastering on a smile, he forcefully shoved what remained of his headspace from stretching back, replying with a “Nothing, I’m fine, sorry guys. I just couldn’t remember my spot for the life of me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others exchanged confused looks, Wonwoo gesturing slightly to the empty space next to him. The dance flooded back to him, and he dropped his head, mumbling apologies as he made his way to his position. While the instructors set the track back to the start, the members examined DK (unnoticed by him), trying to figure out what was wrong. None of them just </span>
  <em>
    <span>forgot</span>
  </em>
  <span> their place. It was practically seared into their brain. Especially for songs they had rehearsed the previous week. Before a conclusion could be made, the song started again, this time with DK in place. Unable to do anything for now, they fell in sync once more.</span>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>
  <span>An hour had passed and things were going… </span>
  <em>
    <span>okay</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They definitely could’ve been worse, that’s for sure. Since stretching, the 97-liner hadn’t fallen back into little space, which was good. He also hadn’t messed up the choreo hugely, just being a little slow to the moves sometimes, but the others hadn’t called him out on it (also good). What wasn’t so good, was his pounding headache. The bass line in their next title track vibrated through his head without pause, leaving him with the beginnings of a migraine (it had nothing to do with him pushing his headspace away, no way).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>DK knew the others were starting to pick up on it, the way he kept grabbing his head, gulping down water (the water would definitely help because it was totally down to dehydration, not him repressing regression for a whole day). None of them had confronted him about it, but he’d started spotting the worried looks they were sending his way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a little irritating, to be honest. He was just trying to make it easier for the others but they weren’t exactly helping. The concerned glances being shot at him just made him feel doted on, but he couldn’t enjoy being taken care of like he wanted to. If he indulged even for a minute, he would slip. There was no doubt about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After finishing what felt like the hundredth run-through of the choreo, Hoshi let them go for a five-minute drinks break. As soon as it was announced, at least 6 people looked at DK, and then one another as they decided who would talk to him. In the end, Joshua seemed to be chosen, starting to walk towards the younger boy in what he hoped seemed like a nonchalant way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>DK looked up from fiddling with his fingers, feeling as though someone was watching him. He briefly met Joshua’s eyes, which were approaching slowly but surely. He clearly knew something was wrong. In a panic, DK bolted up, grabbing his (full) bottle and blurting out something about “needing to top it up” before rushing out the room and down the hall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Adrenaline gone, he slowed his pace. With nowhere else to go to waste 4 minutes, the 97-liner paced up and down the empty corridor. No doubt he looked slightly crazy, but he had no idea how he was gonna carry on hiding this if the members were insistent of getting it out of him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Checking his watch, there was only a minute left of the break. If he slipped in when Hoshi announced it was over, they couldn’t force him to talk. ‘Yeh,’ he decided, ‘that a good plan.’</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He headed back to the practice room, hovering outside the door to listen for Hoshi’s signature clap to signal the restart of dance. When it came, he still waited 10 more seconds or so, just to be safe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dropping his water bottle by the wall, he slipped into formation, grateful he was next to Jun. The older wouldn’t question what was wrong, unless it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>obvious, usually preferring to let the members come to him if they needed help with something. Which DK decidedly </span>
  <em>
    <span>did not.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignoring the concerned glances, yet again (he was becoming quite the pro at that), and pushing the little talk creeping into his thoughts away (for the trillionth time), he let his muscle memory take over and fell into step with the others.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hope you liked that!</p><p>DKs regression is based on mine (which is pretty voluntary (i.e. i'm able to prevent myself from slipping if i need to)), so i'm sorry if that doesn't resonate with you! </p><p>WHAT DID YALL THINK OF THE COMEBACK!!!!!! the boys don't disappoint, this was my first comeback with them and im so proud to be stanning them!!!! their talent!!!!</p><p>on the other hand, i've been trying to sleep and my brain has just been going "left and right left and right left and right rip it rip it left and right left and right leFT AND RIGHT RIP IT RIP IT LEFT AND RIGHT LEFT AND RIGHT LEFT AND RIGHT RIP IT RIP IT" so thats not been so fun (still love the song tho (kinda ironic seeing as if it had been a group that i didn't stan's song, i woulda been well annoyed)</p><p>whats your favourite song from the album? mine is probably i wish, followed by left and right and then my my (theyre all bops tho)</p><p>if yall want a good playlist to stream from then this one has BLM vids on it too (i highly recommend):<br/>https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlqwqyeIg6NYUo68FyBLj2_1D-Rohorfj</p><p>you can just leave it on with headphones plugged in if you dont actually wanna listen to it cos i realise listening to the same song on repeat can get a bit boring (no matter how good the song is). also! dont skip the ads on the BLM vids!</p><p>thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It was around 7:30 when everything fell apart. DK had been right in guessing the instructors would hold them on for longer than the official practice, which was meant to have ended about half an hour ago. Instead, they were going over the same part again and again - one that he coincidentally couldn’t get right.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t the only one - Jeonghan and Myungho kept screwing up the timing, but he couldn’t even get his limbs to do the right movement, let alone do it at the right time.</p><p> </p><p>He could feel the others getting more and more frustrated at him, despite none of them saying anything. The sighs they let out when the instructors yelled out “again” told him everything he needed to know.</p><p> </p><p>But he wasn’t even improving. In fact, he was getting decidedly worse as the disappointment radiating from the others sent him spiralling into his headspace, movements getting sloppier as he fell.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay so i've finally finished this! i planned for this to be a short two-shot (like, 2000 words max) but that clearly didn't happen so yeah! hope you've enjoyed up til now and like this chapter!</p><p>theres a lil explanation as to why this took me so long to get out (which im super sorry about btw) at the end, feel no pressure to read it, im just feeling kinda bad about it and think i'd feel better if yall knew why</p><p>im sorry theres not any jun or woozi at all, and that a lot of the boys are just background, i didn't intend for this to turn out as jeonghan and dk centered as it did (although i do like how it turned out, even if it wasnt the way id planned)! im gonna edit the tags so its more accurate for the finished product.</p><p>enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was around 7:30 when everything fell apart. DK had been right in guessing the instructors would hold them on for longer than the official practice, which was meant to have ended about half an hour ago. Instead, they were going over the same part again and again - one that he coincidentally couldn’t get right.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t the only one - Jeonghan and Myungho kept screwing up the timing, but he couldn’t even get his limbs to do the right movement, let alone do it at the right time.</p><p> </p><p>He could feel the others getting more and more frustrated at him, despite none of them saying anything. The sighs they let out when the instructors yelled out “again” told him everything he needed to know.</p><p> </p><p>But he wasn’t even improving. In fact, he was getting decidedly worse as the disappointment radiating from the others sent him spiralling into his headspace, movements getting sloppier as he fell.</p><p> </p><p>They finished another run-through of the part with issues, but the music hadn’t even been paused before “again” was shouted at them (again). </p><p> </p><p>As the track was set back and they got back in their first positions, DK heard Hoshi mumbling under his breath. He missed most of it but tuned in enough to catch, “He could at least <em> try </em> to get it right.” paired with a look shot in his direction.</p><p> </p><p>Unable to stop them, tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill out at even the slightest blink. Hoshi must’ve seen them, because his face immediately changed from annoyed to guilty. He looked like he was about to say something to backtrack, but they’d rewound the song to where they needed and the others had started dancing around them, so he just joined in.</p><p> </p><p>DK, on the other hand, couldn’t remember how the dance went, and just wanted to cry. He looked around, trying to pick up where the others were but they were moving too fast, so fast that they were blurry in fact, but wait, maybe that was the tears that were making them blurry and what the heck was<em> that </em> move, since when had <em> that </em>been part of the dance and why was he just standing there with them all moving around him, wasn’t he supposed to be dancing by now as well?</p><p> </p><p>Overwhelmed, the young boy sat down, curling into a ball and squeezing himself tight, before starting to sob. Almost instantly, hands appeared, trying to pry his own hands from where they were embedding nail marks into his arms. Managing, they held them instead, letting him squeeze as hard as he wanted. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the music stop, but it didn’t stop the buzzing in his ears.</p><p> </p><p>At some point he noticed someone was behind him (probably Mingyu - he was good at physical grounding), his arms wrapped around DK to try and help him calm down. Although his head was still tucked between his knees, he knew the members would’ve made sure the manager and instructors had left the room, close enough with him to know he wouldn’t want them to see him like that.</p><p> </p><p>His sobs subsided enough to mumble out a small ‘Dada’, before they picked up again, tumbling out of him without any control over them. </p><p> </p><p>It had been enough though, the person’s who’s hands he’d been squeezing being replaced with softer ones. “Dada’s here baby.” said a soft voice, trying to coax the little to raise his head out of his knees a fraction. </p><p> </p><p>He succeeded, but tears still streamed down DK’s cheeks as he fell into Jeonghan’s arms, tucking his face into the older’s neck and whimpering. Jeonghan rubbed circles onto his back, focusing on whispering calming words to the young boy, instead of the fact he’d dropped so fast. It wasn’t like the younger to not tell someone if he was feeling small, but that was for him to dwell on later. For now, he’d just concentrate on stroking the little’s hair, soothing him. He didn’t stop until DK had quieted, suckling lightly on his neck.</p><p> </p><p>Now DK was slightly calmer, the focus was getting him home. While the people in the room (other than members) had left, once they went out into the corridor, there was no guessing who they’d come across.</p><p> </p><p>Shifting his focus from the boy on his lap, Jeonghan scanned the room. It seemed none of the other littles had slipped at the 97-liner’s outburst, which meant it would hopefully be slightly easier to get out the building. One little was manageable. More would’ve been more difficult (not impossible, just more difficult).</p><p> </p><p>Most of the members were hovering around the outskirts of the room, clearly not wanting to crowd and overwhelm DK even more. They were murmuring to each other, trying to be as normal as possible for the little (but still unable to stop themselves from glancing at the pair in the middle every few seconds). A few of them were on their phones, knowing there would be others better able to help if it was needed, but even their gazes would flicker to check up every so often.</p><p> </p><p>Jeonghan made eye contact with Coups, trying to convey a silent plan of action. It didn’t work. The older ended up approaching quietly, trying not to frighten the younger. Other than shifting a little on Jeonghan’s lap, he stayed the same. That was good. It meant he wasn’t as agitated anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Seungcheol reached out and ruffled the little one’s hair, grinning at the whine that came in response. “The managers have called the cars. We good to go?” He addressed Jeonghan.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeh, but someone’s gonna have to piggyback him, I don’t think he’ll have the energy to walk to the car.” He replied, looking over at Mingyu, the resident piggybacker. He thought for a second before adding, “Also, does anyone have a paci with them? He’s sucking on my neck, and we can put a mask over it so that it isn’t visible.” </p><p> </p><p>A few bag searches later, and they found one in the front pocket of Vernon’s, with a few bits of lint covering it. Someone quickly ran to the kitchen and cleaned it with boiling water, and within 15 minutes they were ready to go. </p><p> </p><p>DK had nearly fallen asleep after his energy being drained from the meltdown. The members helped him up so he could flop over Mingyu’s back, checking his mask was still in place so the paci wasn’t visible. The mask tactic had been used before when Wonu had been feeling small and hadn’t failed them yet, so hopefully it would prove to work this time too.</p><p> </p><p>At a message from the managers that the cars had arrived, the group left the room, unintentionally forming a protective crowd around DK and Mingyu. Despite it being past dinner time, there were still plenty of people in the company building. Sure, they only had a short distance to go to reach the exit but it was better to be safe than sorry, right?</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully they made it to the doors without bumping into anyone, and when the managers waiting by the cars sent them questioning looks about the sleeping boy draped across Mingyu, they just brushed them off. Dino and Seungkwan exchanged a glance before heading off to distract them by asking about their schedule the next day.</p><p> </p><p>Seungcheol and Mingyu manoeuvred the little into a seat and buckled him in, earning a small whine from him in response. The mask slipped a little, but before the pacifier could be exposed, Coups adjusted it. Completely exhausted, DK kept snoozing, eyes not even hinting at opening.</p><p> </p><p>The cars were decided, with Coups, Mingyu and Jeonghan riding with DK so that when they got out, they’d be able to get him from the vehicle to the dorms as easily as possible. The other members just piled into the other cars with whoever, knowing they’d all end up in the same place.</p><p> </p><p>The drive to the dorms went pretty smoothly, DK napping peacefully all the way. The car stopping woke him up, making him rub his eyes groggily. Upon seeing Mingyu, he held out his arms, wanting uppies despite the fact he was still buckled in and they were in a vehicle with a low roof. Still, Mingyu was soft for those puppy eyes, so once they’d got him out the car, he picked him up onto his back again. The dorm was literally 6 steps away but it was the thought that counts, right?</p><p> </p><p>A fiddle with the keys later, and they were finally home. None of the other cars had arrived back yet, having left only a few minutes after and yet having gotten stuck in <em> far </em>more traffic jams than them. While Coups headed to the kitchen to start raiding the cupboards for something that could resemble dinner, Jeonghan and Mingyu headed straight for DK’s room, knowing that soon the little would start complaining about his clothes. Yes, they were baggy practice ones, and not jeans, (probably the only reason he hadn’t already whined about them already) but they were still all sweaty and somewhat gross. </p><p> </p><p>Once Mingyu had gracefully deposited the little (read: sat on the bed and let him flop backwards), he stood back up, looking at Jeonghan. “Can I leave you to it hyung? I should probably help Coups hyung with the cooking if we wanna eat something actually edible tonight.”</p><p> </p><p>Looking back from where he was searching through the wardrobe, Jeonghan replied “Sure, we’ll be fine on our own, right Minnie baby?” cooing at the half-conscious little by the end of the sentence. He got a small gurgle in response, which Mingyu took as a yes, before heading out to try and salvage whatever meal had been started.</p><p> </p><p>Finally picking out a pair of fluffy pjs, Jeonghan headed back over to the bed. “There’s no point getting you dressed in day clothes, is there baby? That would be silly when it’s already nearly bedtime.” He tickled the younger under the chin, and then started to change him.</p><p> </p><p>When he got to the pj bottoms, he paused for a second, asking softly “Hey little one, how old are you feeling sweetheart?” </p><p> </p><p>Babbling around his paci, the other just stared up at him with round eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Guess we’re gonna use a diaper then.” Jeonghan muttered to himself, heading back over to the wardrobe to grab one from the bottom of it.</p><p> </p><p>Once DK was (re)dressed, there was another slight problem. Only minor, because it wasn’t a big thing, and there <em> was </em>a solution, it just wasn’t accessible right that second. Said problem was moving around a man who had the motor skills of an infant, and said solution was Mingyu, Cheol and Wonwoo (when they weren’t little themselves), but all three of them were either out of the house or doing something. As much as Jeonghan and the other caregivers wished they could, it simply wasn’t possible to carry the others when they were little.</p><p> </p><p><em> Usually </em> , it was okay. Apart from Cheol, it was pretty uncommon for the boys to slip into baby space (not unheard of, just uncommon). <em> Usually, </em> their motor skills somewhat worked. <em> Usually </em>, they could just toddle or crawl to where they wanted to go. This was not a ‘usually’ time.</p><p> </p><p>It wasn’t an emergency though, and really, there was no need to move rooms right now. They would be just fine in the bedroom for now. Jeonghan grabbed a rattle, a picture book and DK’s favourite stuffie, going to settle behind the little on the bed. He manoeuvred DK to lean against his back, in between his legs, before passing him a rattle to keep him entertained for long enough that he could shoot a text to the group chat.</p><p>
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  <b>💎 SAY THE NAME 💎</b>
</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>idk if you guys are back yet or not but can someone make minnie a bottle if/when you are</p><p> </p><p><b>kwannie: </b>we’re a min away, i’ll do it when we get in</p><p> </p><p><b>soonie:</b> please can you tell him im sorry! i think he heard me say something mean, and thats what made him slip, but i wasnt actually angry at him, im just tired! im really sorry :((</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>i dont think he’ll understand right now hosh, so you can just tell him yourself when hes big again</p><p> </p><p><b>soonie:</b> mkay :((</p><p> </p><p><b>haohao: </b>hows he doing? has he settled?</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>yeh hes fine now, but in babyspace so i dont think solid food is the way to go (hence the bottle)</p><p> </p><p><b>channie: </b>babyspace? hes usually 3 or 4 tho?</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>i dunno, i have a feeling he was repressing it and thats why he fell so deep</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie:</b> hes not gonna talk about it now, thats for sure, so we can ask him about it in the morning</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie:</b> for now i just wanna get some food in him and then let him sleep</p><p> </p><p><b>shua:</b> no playtim?</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>awww im sorry shua hun, i think minnie’s too tired for that</p><p> </p><p><b>shua: </b>:((</p><p> </p><p><b>sollie: </b>ill play wif you! we can do bloks or somthing quiet so that it doesn wak up minnie!</p><p> </p><p><b>shua: </b>:))</p><p> </p><p><b>hannie: </b>so considerate sollie, good boy! im gonna read minnie a story now bubs, but make sure to listen to your hyungs and appas when getting out of the car!</p><p> </p><p><b>sollie: </b>mkay dada!</p><p> </p><p><b>shua: </b>mhm will do hyung!</p><p>
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</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Smiling, he put his phone down. The little one in front of him was still playing with the rattle, waving it around and giggling softly at the sounds it made. In the background he heard the front door open and close, Vernon whisper-shouting excitedly to his hyungs about getting the blocks out and ready for when Shua got back. His smile only grew, oh so fond of the younger boy.</p><p> </p><p>Their voices grew fainter, presumably from having gone through to the living room to rummage through their toy baskets. A small “Dada” brought his attention back from his thoughts, starting a tiny bit at the rattle right in front of his face. DK was grinning up at him, tremendously pleased at himself for doing nothing but playing and heck! that was so endearing! His smile was so cute! </p><p> </p><p>“Wow darling! Look at that! Your rattle is so pretty!” Jeonghan said, making the younger giggle and try and repeat the words after him.</p><p> </p><p>“Look dat! Attle pwetty!” It was slightly muffled by his paci but the intentions were there, so Jeonghan found himself nodding enthusiastically and cooing anyway.</p><p> </p><p>A head peeped round the door, barely registering the situation before cooing as well. Noticing the newcomer, DK looked up, immediately recognising who it was. His delighted “Appa!”, paired with grabby hands had Seungkwan by the bed in no time, pinching his cheeks and ruffling his hair. </p><p> </p><p>At the little’s excitable squeal, Jeonghan internally groaned. “I swear he was tired a second ago, you’ve made him wake up.”</p><p> </p><p>“Stop complaining, I brought the bottle you asked for. Plus, baby’s already settling down again, you don’t need to worry.” came the response.</p><p> </p><p>Upon spying the aforementioned bottle, DK let his paci drop out of his mouth, and reached for it. Grabbing it out of his way before a spillage could happen (yes, despite the fact it was in a bottle, there could be a spillage (trust him, he knew from experience)), Jeonghan said, “Nuh-uh mister, you are too small to feed yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Not really understanding anything but the tone, DK pouted at the older, reaching for it again. Seungkwan laughed when Jeonghan held it above his head, making it difficult for the younger to get. “You seem to have everything under control here so I’m gonna go help Wonwoo and Jun with Vernon before they slip too. Bye Minnie! Bye hyung! I’ll make sure they save some ramen for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Shooting a thumbs up somewhere in Seungkwan’s direction, Jeonghan tried to get the 97-liner to open his mouth. “Ahhhhhhhh. Say Ahhhhh baby.” Thankfully the younger copied, clearly hoping this would win him the milk that was being held (quite literally) above him.</p><p> </p><p>It did (although the puppy eyes didn’t exactly hinder his goal), and he started suckling on the bottle peacefully, falling into a rhythm. Warm, comfy, full and in his dada’s arms, the little’s eyes started closing once more. Even though it had just gone 8:30, the tiring day had caught up with him, and all he wanted to do was fall asleep again.</p><p> </p><p>His bottle was soon empty but Jeonghan quickly replaced it with his paci once more and put his favourite teddy in his arms. Yes, tomorrow they would need to talk but for now DK could just slip off to dreamland, feeling small, safe and loved. He deserved it after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>soooo there you go! this was my first agere fic ever and although i'm not a fan of how i ended it, i couldn't really think of a better way? so thats just what it finished with, sorry if it disappointed you :'(</p><p>why it took me so long to update:<br/>my parents have basically made it so i only have 3 hours of screentime (for literally everything except spotify and emails) a day. ive been using my screentime to stream and vote and just go on social media and stuff, instead of writing, so yeh, that's why. for some people 3 hours might be a lot, but before i would spend on average 9 hours a day (that includes productive stuff as well, not just all social media) so it's been a big cut back and i had to figure out priorities and stuff.</p><p>oh! they also blocked ao3 on my phone cos they think every fanfiction is explicit (it obvs isnt but they arent educated and wont listen to me) so i had to wait until they left the house so i could use the laptop.</p><p>so yeh, im super sorry it took so long, i had been planning on updating like 2 days after the last update but then stuff happened so :/</p><p> </p><p>on another note, if you have any requests then lemme know! in this au:</p><p>if they aren't regressed then they help look after one another, but the guys i've put under 'little' are the most likely to slip if theyre with another little so they arent usually left alone with regressed kids. i also just wanna clarify, you arent any less of a little if you do the things ive put under 'middle ground', i was just struggling with describing words to be like, 'these are people who regress but also are likely to look after others'. you are a valid little! dont let anyone tell you otherwise!</p><p>CAREGIVERS (doesn't regress)<br/>jeonghan<br/>seungkwan</p><p>MIDDLE GROUND (voluntarily regressor/agedre/(involuntary/voluntary) regresses rarely)<br/>S.Coups ((inv) regresses rarely)<br/>joshua (voluntary regressor)<br/>jun ((vol) regresses rarely)<br/>Hoshi (agedre)<br/>Wonwoo ((vol) regresses rarely)<br/>Mingyu (agedre)<br/>The8 (voluntary regressor)<br/>Vernon (voluntary regressor)<br/>Dino ((inv) regresses rarely)</p><p>LITTLES (involuntary regressors, needs to regress somewhat regularly)<br/>Woozi<br/>DK</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you for reading! hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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